Orphans
by ashyash22
Summary: Family. Some people say you can't choose who your family are. I beg to differ. Enju is my family and I will protect her no matter the cost.
1. Family

_Rentaro: Age 7_

Red. The color of their eyes. The color that coated my sword. The color of their blood. The color of my eyes. I stood in what used to be living room. All the happy memories here were long gone from thought as I looked at the sight before me. Both my mother and my father had just been killed by a creature known as a Gastrea. I couldn't help but weep and cry as I looked at what used to be my mother and farther. Their bodies were long from being recognizable anymore. I also looked at the creature that had killed them.

 _FlashBack_

It looked like a bee. A big ugly bee. We were eating dinner when it happened. I was lounging in a chair as my parents sat on the couch. We were happy and peaceful until the bee burst through the window. It had immediately impaled my mother and my father soon fell after. When I saw the bee kill them rage clouded my mind. My vision gained a sharp red tint as I wanted nothing more than to end the life of the bee. I charged at it not fearing death and punched one of the creatures wings. To my surprise the wing was torn to shreds. I was too transfixed with what I had done that I failed to notice the bee moving with its wing now repaired. It managed to gouge my shoulder with its stinger as it launched me across the room.

When I slammed into the wall I was fixated into a daze. I didn't feel no pain due to the rage and anger. I looked above and noticed the family sword hanging on its plaque above me. I stood and with my good arm plucked it off the wall. I returned my attention to the beast as it again swung its stinger at me. I slashed at it with the blade and broke the stinger. To my surprise the stinger did not heal. Not letting the beast have a chance I soon finished it off.

I looked at my mother and father and saw my father's chest was moving but faintly.

"Father!" I said as I ran over to him.

"Rentaro *Coughs* I don't have much time left." He said weakly. "I wan't you to do me a favor Rentaro. I wan't you to grow up strong and become a man who can hold his head high. That is my last order to you besides the next request. Please put me out of my misery Rentaro. I don't wanna die due to the beast I would rather die by my own son."

I couldn't believe what was happening. The man that I looked up to was dying in front of me with no chance at all at saving. I gave him a nod as tears flowed down my face. I brought the sword to his neck and lifted the blade into the air. I noticed my father had dawned a smile on his face.

"Rentaro." With that I swung the blade and put my father out of his misery.

 _FlashBack End_

I dropped the blade as the last of my strength left me. I now felt the agonizing pain in my shoulder. It felt like it was being slice open with a clear. The pain began to lessen to where it felt like I had badly scraped it. Then it lessened to where it felt like I pulled a muscle. The pain finally stopped completely. Confused I looked over to what was my mutilated shoulder to see it had completely healed. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had suffered a very serious injury and yet here it was completely healed.

I didn't have much time to rejoice in the fact I was completely healed as I heard the sound of engines nearby signifying that police or promoters were nearly here. I may be a kid but I know that if I was found I would be in serious trouble. I mean who would trust a kid that can heal magically and who can kill Gastrea? I looked around my house for what would be the last time. I reminisced the fond memories I had here. Knowing If I didn't leave now I wouldn't ever. I turned around and jumped out the hole the Gastrea had made when it first entered the house.

* * *

 **One Hour Later**

I was currently wandering the streets shivering in the cold. I was in some old abandoned industrial district with tons of warehouses that were either infested with bugs or had too many holes in the walls and roofs. I finally found a dull grey one that didn't seem in bad shape. I opened the door and noticed the inside was pitch black except for small rays of moonlight that cascaded from the windows. The side I had entered on sadly had no moonlight to aid my vision. I saw a big patch of light a couple of meters ahead of me and I began moving towards it. I was surprised when I walked into something.

"Who's there?" I asked in a scared voice. A light show into existence and revealed a girl around my age. In one hand was a flashlight in another was a broken pipe. I looked at her appearance to take my mind off the weapon in her hand. The most noticeable thing about her was he long crimson hair. It was kept in two knee-length ponytails. In her hair was two black tags tying her hair with what appear to be bunny designs printed on them. Her eyes were rather soft, but had a slight edge to them. They were the same color as her hair.

"Who are you?" I asked the girl. She remained silent if anything my voice put her more on edge. "It's okay I am not here for any other reason other than shelter." I tried to reassure her. She analyzed me like she was trying to detect any deceit in my words. Finally she turned the flashlight off and walked away. The sound of her footsteps quietly reached my ears to the point that they stopped.

Not seeing any reason not to I continued towards my original destination and reach the patch of moonlight. When I finally reached it I noticed that the ground beneath it instead of concrete or some other material was lush grass. I did see some remains of concrete near the edge of the light but most of it was cracked and had weeds sprouting from it.

I patted the earth for a bit to shape it and after I was satisfied I sat down on the cold ground and laid my sword next to me. For the first time since leaving my house I allowed myself to process what had happened. The thoughts of my parents nearly pushed me to tears. I loved my father and mother. Even though my mother wasn't the one that had given birth to me I had loved her like a mother. I finally couldn't bear it anymore and began to cry over their deaths.

My silent tears turned into quite sobs. I cried for what felt like forever before I felt something wrap around me. Struggling to look past the tears in my eyes I looked down to find myself wrapped by a pair of arms. I looked behind me and saw the girl from earlier. I looked into her eyes and saw a look that I had not expected to see. Understanding. I continued to sob as she held onto me tightly. Finally after a good ten minutes I had stopped.

"Thank you." I said to the girl.

"Enju." She said.

"Huh?" I asked her questioningly.

"My name is Enju." She said in a voice that held nearly no emotion.

"Nice to meet you Enju, my name is Rentaro." I offered her my hand to which she just stared at.

"What happened?" She asked still with barely any emotion. I explained to her what had happened earlier. From the bee crashing through the window to me killing my own father and finding out I had regenerative powers.

"Red eyes." She said as hers flashed a bright crimson raid. I was shocked at their sudden brightening of color until I saw my vision turn a tinge of red. "You are like me." This time there was slightly more emotion that I could tell there was happiness and a small amount of hope in her voice.

"What are we?" I asked her.

"Family. Rentaro is family." She said this as she hugged me. I was shocked. The only family I had ever had in my life was my now deceased parents. And here I was with some girl that I had just met hugging me as she called me family. I looked at her and saw that she actually had a smile on her face right now. That smile brought warmth in me and made me wanna make her smile more.

"Thats right Enju were family." I said as I returned her hug. We stayed in that embrace for the rest of the night.


	2. The Sage

**Three years** **later**

"Hurry up Rentaro!" A cheerful voice said ahead of me.

"I'm coming!" Geese who knew someone could get so excited about going to see some doctor.

Currently me and Enju were walking towards the lab of Sumire Muroto one of the Four Sages. I was a little surprised when I woke up one morning and found a letter addressed from her to us. To be honest we had no idea what the woman could want from either of us. There was nothing really special about me or Enju. Well that is if you don't count neither of us as one of the Cursed Children or me being the only male of those children. Then again no one beside me and Enju knew about that so there was no possibility of her knowing this. My guess would be it was about us being a private two person Civil Security team. Most bosses of the Civil Security had multiple Promoters and Initiators but me and Enju were the owners and laborers of our own. I still had no idea why that would draw attention from one of the Four Sages but I guess I will find out when we get there.

"Why are you so excited anyways?" I asked Enju as I finally caught up the her. Currently she was leaning against the wall of a building with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Well think about it. When was the last time we went out on non work or shopping related business?" She asked in a voice filled with glee as she began waling again.

"Sorry but you know between killing Gastrea and shopping plus dealing with a certain someone I can get pretty exhausted easily." My words were true. Killing Gastrea was a pain but it brought in enough money to keep us alive even though we were still living in the same place where we had first met. Even after a day of killing them it was tiring to rush around the city to get to certain sales in stores and plus Enju can be a handful sometimes.

"Oh you know you love dealing with me." She exclaimed happily as she gave me a quick look that showed her smile.

"Depends on the day and the mood I'm in." I said jokingly. Apparently she didn't like that answer gave me a look that said I better fix what I just said or I would be in trouble.

"Alright fine you win." I said as I patted her head. Satisfied she returned to her normal happy self. Withing minutes we had arrived at the building that the letter said to come to. It was the Magata Public University Hospital. We walked into the building and talked to the receptionist behind the desk. We told her we were to see Sumire Muroto and the woman said that she had been expected us and pointed out a door that behind held a set of stairs that led down to her lab. I knocked on the door to the lab and heard some shuffling behind it before the door was flung open revealing a women with messy purple hair and violet eyes in a lab coat.

"Ah good you're here. Come right on in." She said casually. We followed her inside the room. Inside was a combination of what was part lab part home. There was scientific equipment scattered all over the place but you could also see a bed and a refrigerator. She walked over to a desk which was covered with dozens of papers and sat down at the revolving chair at the desk and pointed to two nearby seats. Walking over and sitting down I couldn't help but get some eerie feeling about this place.

"Now I'm sure you are curious as to why I called you here. So I am gonna cut to the chase." She let a bit of suspense build up before her next words. "I want you two to become my test dummies." I honestly hope I heard her wrong. I mean why would she want test dummies and why us specificity?

"Test dummies?" Enju asked with both curiosity and caution.

"Of course!" The purple haired woman exclaimed. "During my time hacking into various security cameras for reasons neither of you need to be concerned about I have witnessed how you two interact with the world around you." She then pointed at you. "You are a Cursed Child but one that still attempts at maintains a normal life of a girl by going to school and such. Not to mention your combat abilities are superb." She then pointed at me. "And you are her Promoter but at such a young age. Also when you fight Gastrea you show no fear of being turned into one and you even don't have a problem with getting up close to them and using a sword." I was impressed and creeped out by how much she knew of us. She was like an examiner one small step away from being a full blown stalker.

"And by test dummies you mean..." I said leaving the question open expecting her answer.

"Well as you know I am one of the leading researchers on Gastrea. I have plenty of ideas on how to fight them but none of them are sanctioned. So I have taken matters into my own hands by getting some volunteers and here they are have a conversation with me." She then snatched forward and plucked a single strand of hair from both me and Enju. "For science." She said to assure us as she put the hairs into some weird machine on a table nearby.

"So basically you're giving us a job offer?" I asked her to clarify.

"Basically." She said. Just then the machine made a noise to which she quickly went over to. When she came back she had two pieces of paper in her hands. I looked at her face and noticed a look of shock cross her face before one of determination appeared on it. "Now I definitely need to spend some time around you." She said in glee as she continued staring at one of the papers.

"What do you mean by that?" Enju asked with jealousy.

"Tell me what do you see here on this paper?" She asked as she showed us one of the papers. On it was my name and some basic medical info.

"I see basic medical jumbo on it what about it?" I asked. Clearly I wasn't getting what she was hinting at.

"Look at the bottom." She said eagerly. I looked at the bottom and saw something called erosion rate and the number beside it said one hundred. "Do you know what that means?" She asked curiously. I shook my head at her having no clue what was going on. "Once the Gastrea Virus is inside someone it starts the erosion process." She explains. "After the virus goes over fifty a human transforms into a Gastrea. The only beings that are resistant to this disease are the Cursed Children but they can still turn into a Gastrea. Here you are at one hundred percent and you look totally normal so just what are you?" She asked as she leaned in closer to me. Knowing I was found out I gave her the answer she wanted as my eyes flashed red.

"I am a Cursed Child." I said. This information must have made her mind go in overload as I saw her do a jump of joy before she clasped my hands between hers.

"Rentaro I believe this is going to be the start of a beautiful business venture." She said in glee. Her hands were then forcibly removed by an irritated Enju.

"Get your hands off my husband!" She said as she pulled me close to her. Great just great she was bringing this up again.

"Husband you say? But your both so young." She said in a teasing tone.

"Just ignore her she gets like this every so often." I said as I placed my hand over Enju's mouth to keep her quiet.

"I can tell." She said with a laugh. She then offered me her hand. "So do we have a deal? I will provide you with weapons and the like to combat Gastrea and I can do research on you and get results from my inventions." It did sound like a fair deal to me.

"I only have one request." I said to her.

"What a wedding ring for your bride?" She asked jokingly.

"I want a second sword." I said as I pulled out the one I had been using for years.

"Easy enough." She said as she looked at my blade.

"Then I accept your request." I said as I shook her hand with my free one.

"I have a feeling this will be a interesting partnership." She said.

"I couldn't agree more." I said as I picked up my sword and with Enju walked out of the lab.

"What was that for?" Enju asked irritated after she finally escaped my mouth clamp.

"Had to keep you quiet." She gave me a look that I think was suppose to be a glare but just made her look cute. "Tell you what, to make up for it I will cook your favorite food tonight."

"Really?" She asked with her eyes filling with happiness. I couldn't help but chuckle at her as I gave a nod. Happy with my answer she ran ahead of me towards our home.

"Hey wait up!." I said as we ran home after a long day.


	3. Spiders

"Are you really from the Civil Security Corporation?" A detective named Tadashima asked me. This question irritated me. There was very few things in life that irritated me and one of the main ones was being judged just because of my age. I mean I guess I could see where the guy was coming from. I mean here I am a ten year old kid claiming to belong to the Civil Security Corporation. I decided to end this judgement before it got out of hand.

"Well I can just leave and you can deal with a Gastrea by yourself." I said this as I flashed my License. This seemed to satisfy him if barely.

"Follow me and I will brief you of the situation." I nodded towards him and we began walking towards a staircase. "We received reports from one of the rooms that the roof was leaking blood from the second floor. The person who reported this also said they heard inhuman screeches and a heavy struggle from the floor above." It was a simple Gastrea story so I didn't feel any unease at anything he had sad. "By the way where is your Initiator?" At that question I couldn't help chuckle to myself.

"Still sleeping probably." As ridiculous as it sounded it was the simple truth. Enju would not budge at all this morning and I had decided to just leave her be. He only tensed up more at my response as he probably didn't like the idea of fighting a Gastrea without a Initiator.

"Is it wise to fight this thing without one?" He asked as we reached the next floor and began walking down the hallway.

"As long as it is not a stage three this should be a piece of cake." I said as I took a glance at my weapons to make sure I still had them. It was a silly habit but one could never be too careful. We then rounded the corner and I spotted two armed men standing outside the doorway. At the sight of the men Tadashima tensed and rushed ahead of me as he began to talk to them.

"Where are the others!?" He asked as he shook the men.

"They are entering the room from the floor above." The guy said in a scared voice.

"You idiots! What were you thinking? Those men are more than likely dead now!" At this the guy seemed to shake as he was still locked in a grasp.

"We didn't want people like him to get the glory." The soldier said as he turned his attention to me. His answer just irritated me even more than the one earlier. Taking calm steps I walked up to the guy and stared him dead in the eyes as I sent a harsh glare.

"You listen and listen well. Who gives a crap about glory? You just wasted the lives of your men for something that doesn't matter. Never put the lives of men under your control below anything else." The man visibly gulped and nodded his head eagerly. Honestly it was pathetic how a grown man could be scared of a ten year old kid. I then faced the door and brought out my blade. Readying myself I let loose a set of five slices as I cut the door down to pieces. I rushed quickly into the room and checked the corners for any threats. Deeming it safe I moved to the next room and found a peculiar sight. There was a man sitting on the balcony. He was wearing a red jacket that ended in a cape and with darker red pants. He then turned his head to face me and I was met with a white mask. He then turned his attention back and jumped off the balcony. I rushed forward to detect any traces of him below but he had already disappeared. Turning around I was met with the sight of multiple blood stains along the wall. I couldn't help but hope that they were caused by that man instead of the Gastrea. Because if it was caused by the Gastrea then there was at least three new ones and the mother left. I then heard the sounds of footsteps behind me and noticed Tadashima along with the two others had entered the room.

"Anything?" Tadashima asked as he looked at the bloodstains along the walls.

"No signs of the Gastrea." I decided not to inform them of the masked man as it would only worsen the situation as they would be worrying about multiple things. One of the soldiers then approached one of the broken windows and looked outside.

"There's one of them right now! It's right outsi-" He was then interrupted as a web then hit him in the face and dragged him out the window. The only things that we heard of the man were his muffled screams. Tadashima quickly rushed towards the window drawing his pistol out and began firing shots outside. Knowing it was pointless as he did not posses varanium bullets. I rushed towards the balcony and jumped out the window and landed on the streets below. I was confronted with the sight of what was left to one of the soldiers and a giant yellow spider Gastrea still in stage one. I rushed forwards and began to rush towards the Gastrea when something you don't see everyday happen. Out of the sky fell two Gastrea corpses or what was left of them. I noticed that they were the same kind as the live one in front of me. Before I could even question where they had come from I saw Enju running up to me.

"Rentaro there you are!" She said happily as she ran up towards me. I didn't pay no attention to her as there was still the main threat in front of me. I jumped up into the air dodging the Gastrea's appendages and stabbed my sword dead into the head of the beast. It let out a dying screech and dropped to the ground dead. I then disposed of the soldier by stabbing him in his brain just to make sure he had no chance to turn into any Gastrea. Before I could wonder where the last one was I was nearly forced to the ground as Enju tackled me into a hug.

"Took you long enough to get here." I said to the crimson eyed girl. She only pouted as she looked at me.

"I would have been here sooner but I noticed those two Gastrea running on rooftops following a flying one through the air." This shocked me as a flying Gastrea could spell trouble. It could easily infect more people and escape we had to kill it fast.

"Is it still inside the city?" She gave a nod in response. "Alright come on we gotta move fast and take it down." We rushed over to the front of the building where I had my motorcycle. Now most people would question a ten year old driving. I mean who wouldn't?" But luckily thanks to me being a Promoter and Sumire I was able to get my license. The motorcycle itself was designed and made by her. At full speed this thing could go over a hundred mph but sadly I had never gotten to test that speed yet. On the back of the motorcycle were two boxes one on each side. Each of the boxes contained multiple things from a Crossbow to a grenade each of them of course made by Sumire. The last and coolest thing it had had varanium coating the outer shell so I could just drive straight through a Gastrea and it would die. Pretty cool if you ask me. We sped down streets and narrow alley ways as I continued heading in the direction that Enju last saw the Gastrea. We were nearing the edge of the city into a forest area. Luckily I finally caught a glimpse of our target. It was a massive spider with webs connecting each of its legs which was able to make the creature fly.

"Enju grab the crossbow." She nodded as she reached on into the box on the right side of the motorcycle and pulled out a compress crossbow. She quickly folding the limbs out and pulled out a varanium bolt with the tip dyed red signifying that this was an incendiary arrow that would only explode after connecting with a Gastrea. I had to admit the inventions and weapons I got were just awesome. I tried to keep the motorcycles movement stable so she wouldn't have a harder shot than she was already having to make. I heard the sound of the bolt being released and I saw it streak across the sky before it connected with the body of the beast and ignited it. It was like watching a small meteor crash into the ground as I stopped and got off the motorcycle as I watched the fireball from in a clearing where it would land. It landed with enough force to cause a dent in the ground but surprisingly the spider like Gastrea was still alive. It cried out in pain as its body was being burned and the varanium in the arrow prevent it from regenerating at all. The cries stopped after a few more seconds and it finally died. I cast a glance at the body and saw nothing but the usual remains until I saw something strange. There was a metal container lying in the middle of the remains. I fumbled the container open and was surprised of what was inside. A beat of tricycle that looked around a decade old.

"I believe that belongs to me." A voice said. I quickly snapped my head around and looked at the figures presented before me.

"You." I said in a wary tone.

"Me." He said.

"What do you want?" I asked already knowing the answer but I hoped to get some information out of him.

"That right there belongs to me." He said pointing at the container.

"And if I don't want to give it to you?" At this he snapped his fingers. The little girl who was standing beside him who I had not paid attention to quickly got behind Enju and had her swords crossed across her neck.

"She dies."


	4. Stage V

Not a single sound registered to me after I heard those words. The sight of Enju being in danger was not one I was happy to see. Just the sight of those blades being posed so near her neck was enough to make me very angry. I had long ago promised not to protect Enju and I would not fail here. I would do anything to make sure she was safe no matter the cost

"I suggest you put down those over sized toothpicks." I said in a threatening tone as I glared at the blue haired girl. She however didn't even seemed phased by my words at all instead she looked at the masked man.

"Papa can I kill them now?" She asked gleefully as if this was her favorite thing to do. Luckily enough the moment she had gazed at the man Enju sprang into action and unleashed a strong elbow bash knocking her assailant off balance. She then followed up with a roundhouse kick and sent her body slamming into a tree. Enju was about to rush in and finish her before the masked man who had drawn a pistol shot a volley of bullets forcing Enju to fall back.

I wasn't one to stand around and quickly rushed forward with my blade drawn. While he was focusing on Enju I l lunged forward and as my blade was getting ready to touch him a transparent shield block the blade. I tried forcing my way through the shield but it held strong and repulsed me away sending me stumbling away into the dirt.

"What the heck?" I asked unsure of what just happened. I didn't get much time to even wonder as I felt a bullet pierce my got as blood began to pour from the wound.

"Rentaro!" I heard Enju scream. I could barely register those words as most of my senses were focusing on this excruciating pain.

"See this is what you get for defying me." I heard the man say entertained as I saw him walk over to the container and pick it up. "Have a painful death." He said as he walked away with his daughter trailing him. I then felt a pair of hands on my wound. I hissed in pain as the sensation reached me.

"Rentaro just bear through this. I have got to get this bullet out of you." I knew she was right and I also knew this was going to hurt incredibly.

"Just hurry please." I said as I clamped my teeth down hard to prepare. Using my sword as a pick along with her hands she slowly extracted the bullet out. If I hadn't been holding my teeth in place I guess I would have bitten my tongue off as I let out a muffled scream. If the bullet had gone any deeper I would have been in trouble. For some reason the bullet had only sunk an inch into my skin and had stopped which was lucky but confusing as it should have gone way deeper than it was. But I guess I shouldn't complain, the bullet was out now.

"That hurt." I said in voice mixed with annoyance and pain. I looked down at the bullet hole through my blood stained shirt and watched as my wound healed thanks to me being a Cursed Child. "Thank you Enju." I said as I patted her on the head. Her face turned as red as a tomato and a large grin formed on her face.

"You can thank me later tonight and make me your wife." She said as a slight bit of drool trailed from her lips and steam rushed out of her ears. I could only chuckle at her antics.

"Let's just focus on the main task here." They wanted that case for something and I just got a bad feeling about this. Luckily before the fight I managed to place a small tracking device on the case. I pulled out my phone and saw that they were already a decent way away from us and were heading to what looked like an abandoned town near the sea. I then looked towards the motorcycle which had luckily sustained no injuries from crossfire. "Come on lets hurry up and catch them." We both got on and sped through the forest. Due to the town being outside the varanium monoliths we began to encounter Gastrea. Most of them were just the lower stages so we easily went by them or rammed through them which ended up killing them. We did however encounter a stage four but managed to get away from it. Due to the stage four chasing us and us avoiding other stage threes it took us three hours to get to the abandoned town.

The town looked like one you would see in a old horror movie. The doors creaked as some wind swept by and shutters on the windows moaned in protest as they tried to stay attached to their window. "Well isn't this just creepy." Enju said as she gazed at the town. I couldn't agree more this was the perfect place for some big setup. But the question was why those two fled out here. Gastrea could easily come in this town but by the looks of it there were none nearby. I began scanning for any signs of life and I saw down the street two stretched shadows. I pointed this out to Enju who nodded in understanding. We stealthily made our way down the street and peeked around the corner.

Standing on top of one of the buildings illuminated by the light of the full moon was them. The masked man had his arms behind his back and the girl had both of her swords drawn while a psychotic smile was plastered on her face. That grin only widened as she spotted us.

"Papa they're here, can I kill them now?" She asked in pure excitement.

"You may kill only the girl." Apparently that was good enough for her as she rushed down towards us with him tailing behind. When she got into attacking range she sprung at Enju who jumped back to evade the attack. Just as I was about to attack her I felt a fist slam into the side of my face. The attack was enough to send me sprawling across the ground and I only came to a stop when I slammed into a tree.

"Ouch." I said as I felt a few of my bones break. I knew that I had no chance of winning this fight unless I went into Curse Child form. My vision turned red and I felt my bones heal. After I had healed I got up much to the surprise of the masked man.

"Oh you're still alive?" He said slightly surprised. He then tilted his head slightly. "Ah I see now. So the cycle is reborn." I didn't have time to wonder what he was talking about as he rushed forwards once again. This time I managed to block the attack and follow up with a counter. But just before my fist connect the same shield from before sprang to life. I didn't even have time to react as soon as my attack ended he landed a powerful kick on me. Once again I slammed into a building as I felt my bones breaking. I could only struggle as my bones tried to mend themselves as he approached me. He was just mere feet from me before he pulled out his pistol.

"It's a shame you won't be here to witness history." He said while taking aim at my head. He had his finger slowly inching the trigger backwards and just as the gun was about to fire something happened. A demonic like wave of fear came from out of nowhere. It was overwhelming and made you feel like you were going insane. The masked man didn't seem fazed at all by this.

"I guess I will just let you be his first sacrifice." He put away his pistol. "Time to leave." I looked over in Enju's direction and saw the aftermath of their battle. Enju had some tears on her clothing along with blood from already healed wounds. Her opponent on the other hand looked like they had just been hit with a wrecking ball. Clothes torn, some bruises still there, and many buildings with large indents or broken walls. She gave a glance at him and then back at her opponent. She looked like she didn't want to stop fighting but nodded anyway. They quickly started running and were soon out of sight.

"Enju you okay?" I asked as I stood up and flexed my bones making sure they healed right.

"Already healed." She replied. "But why did they run away? I felt that overwhelming fear and I can still feel it. But where is it coming from?" She asked. Not knowing myself I scaled a building to see if anything was happening. I saw out in the waters that something indeed was going on. Military ships were cruising the water like they were expecting something like a Gastrea. Enju who had climbed up as well only stared at the ships without saying a word.

"Something major is going on." I said while trying to think of what was happening. "There aren't many water Gastrea that can pause a threat and besides why would they send ships out there? It's not like they can enter the city unless.." I let that trail off as I realized what was happening. "Enju we need to find that container now." I said hastily.

"Why?" She asked still not quite getting what was going on.

"That fear it's overwhelming. Those ships went out of the city to try and fight a Gastrea. There is only one possible thing that could be happening. Somehow whatever was in that container summoned one of the twelve stage five Gastrea." Her eyes widened at the news. She looked like she wanted to do anything but accept what I had told her but she knew that I was probably right.

"Let's hurry." She said as she dropped off a building and ran inside a house. Following her example I began searching buildings myself. After the third building I was starting to get paranoid at the amount of time I spent and I began to start losing hope. I approached the next building and saw Enju coming towards it as well.

"Any luck?" I asked her. She shook her head in response.

"I've already checked every other building so if it isn't in here it's nowhere." She said. Great so it's either in this building or we are screwed. We pushed the doors open as they creaked. Apparently this building used to be a church as stained glass windows adorned the walls and pews were lined up in rows. Sitting at the back of the building on an altar was the container with its contents displayed.

"That's suppose to summon a stage five?" Enju asked not believing what she saw.

"Just how?" I asked. Inside the container was a rusty old child's tricycle that had been broken long ago. We didn't get our answer as a shriek pierced the air accompanied by the sounds of ships firing and large explosions. The noises soon stopped. . We rushed outside to see the cause of the shriek. The first the we noticed was the lack of moonlight. The second thing we noticed was the gigantic thing blocking the moonlight. Bad news was it wasn't a thing that was covering the moon it was a Gastrea and not just any Gastrea it was the stage five. It was the color of charcoal black with some dark blue mixed in. Multiple red eyes adorned the beast as tentacles that flashed colors from light blue to purple went down them. The worse thing was the aura of death and fear the beast was giving off. I knew instantly there was no chance to fight or run from this beast. We would live or die by this beast's command.

"Rentaro." I heard Enju say in a scared voice as she hugged me from the front. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was and how we were going to die.

"Just close your eyes Enju and listen to the beat of my heart." I told her in attempt to make her feel less scared. We were going to die here no questions asked. This beast would probably end up destroying the city after it had its fun with us. True to my assumption a tentacle began to extend towards my direction. It hovered a few feet in front of me. I closed my eyes waiting in anticipation of death. A second passed, and then another, soon a full minute had passed. I opened my eyes to see what had happened and saw the tentacle was in the same place. In fact when I opened my eyes it looked as if the tentacle was beckoning me.

"Enju stay back." I said as I put her behind me.

"Rentaro?" She asked wondering what was going on.

"It hasn't killed us. And it seems to be beckoning me. It's either this or die." I said unsure myself. I extended my hand towards the tentacle slowly. I stopped my hand a foot away as I looked at the tentacle again as it gave a beckon. Deciding to risk it I touched the tentacle. A burning sensation began on the palm of my hand and I tried to retract my hand but it was stuck to the tentacle. The beast itself let out another shriek as I saw its body glowing. The glow intensified continued to intensify to where I had to shut my eyes. When I felt the light on my eyelids lessen I opened my eyes and was shocked at the sight. The stage five Gastrea was gone. I didn't get to celebrate however as intense pain flared on my hand knocking me unconscious.


	5. Lab Report

"You really did a number on yourself huh?" Sumire asked as she extracted even more blood from me. She then placed the vial of blood she had just extracted with the other three which were lying on a table. Currently I was laying in one of her extra beds in her lab. It had been a day since the incident with the stage five Gastrea. After I had blacked out Enju had brought me here and I had been laying in bed ever since awaking only just a few mere minutes ago.

"It's not like I wanted this to happen." I replied as I saw the tiny dot of blood from where the needle had pierced my skin heal immediately. I really love the fast regeneration ability I had made it so much easier to recuperate.

"You are a magnet for trouble after all." She said as she inserted the vials into a machine. It appeared to be the same machine as the one she had placed my blood in the first time I came here.

"Don't have to tell me twice." I muttered while looking at the top of my left hand the same which had touched the Gastrea. Instead of the normal unmarked flesh on my hand there was a new addition to my skin. It was a tattoo. The tattoo itself was in the shape of a scorpion and was the color of acidic green.

"So any pain?" I was asked as Sumire ate some weird purple meatball that I had a feeling was something I did not want to find out what it really was.

"None at all." I couldn't help but flashback to the pain the tattoo had caused me when it had formed on my hand.

"Any losses of sight, hearing, touch, etc?"

"Nope." A devious smile formed on her face as she thought of the next question.

"Any wedding plans?" This last comment made me jerk in surprise. If I had been drinking something at that moment it would have been spat out of my mouth.

"None at all." I said in a tone that told her to drop the subject. Apparently the last question had somehow gained Enju's attention even though she had been asleep with her head resting on my chest just seconds prior.

"Did someone say wedding?" She asked in a voice that was split between happiness and sleepiness.

"Oh yes I was just talking about you and Renta-" I cut her off and tried to turn the conversation on the woman.

"She was actually talking about her own wedding. She has finally realized she is never going to get any man and has decided to marry one of the dead bodies she has that she is so ever fond of." I said in a teasing mocking voice. Sumire's mouth dropped as she couldn't believe what I had just said. She then reigned in her surprise and tried to refute my statement.

"Oh please I could get anyone I wanted." She said proudly as she did a slight motion with her hands signifying she knew she could.

"Yeah if that person was blind, deaf, and stupid or dead." I retorted. This only seemed to aggravate her even more. Enju, who had been listening to us the whole time was trying to control her laughter as she clutched her stomach. Before our battle of words could continue the beeping of a machine stopped our verbal war. Sumire quickly placed down the tray from which she was eating and hurriedly rushed towards the machine to collect results. Even from the bed I was laying in I could see the color quickly drain from her face as she let out a small gasp in surprise. She came back with a serious and sullen face.

"So which is it first? Am I going to drop dead any second or did the machine say my blood was every vampire's dream?" I said this in attempt to lighten the mood. Enju did not appreciate the dead part and punched me in the chest just light enough not to cause pain.

"Well I'm not sure how to say this." Sumire began. I watched as she steeled her nerves and continued, "Your erosion rate has doubled since your last exam." This news slightly shocked me but at the same time it didn't. I mean my body was already eroded enough to turn two humans into Gastrea. Just bumping up to four humans wasn't too bad. I was perplexed why I hadn't turned yet but who was I to complain if I was still walking around live and kicking.

"Is Rentaro going to be okay? Enju asked. You could clearly see the worry in her eyes along with the tears that started to form. Sumire reexamined the report and thought a moment before responding.

"To be perfectly honest I don't know." Alright this day was already strange since I woke up. And now here was a Sage claiming not to know something.

"Do you have any clue at all?" I asked. Surely she had some idea what was going to happen.

"Rentaro you are already an anomaly as it is. Now I just don't know what to say. Your report is just rejecting everything we thought we knew of the Gastrea." Well that was news I was certainly not expecting.

"Do you at least know what is with this tattoo?" I asked flashing my hand at her. She shook her head in response.

"I have never seen or heard anything like that. Although that symbol does look strangely familiar so I will look into it." She said as she pointed over to a rather large pile of messy documents.

"Is there any good news?" I asked hoping there was at least one ray of sunlight going through the dark rain clouds.

"Well you can go home." She replied while she put the report down in favor of her unfinished food.

"Sweet. Well if anything comes up or you need us, you know how to get in touch." I said as I stood up along with Enju and left the room. We walked in silence as we ascended the stairs and eventually left the hospital. I decided to break the silence since not talking for this long while we're alone was not like Enju at all.

"Something wrong Enju? You are never this quiet." Her eyes snapped upwards as she looked at me.

"Yes there is something wrong." As soon as she finished speaking her face quickly formed a pout. I looked to at her to see if she would continue but her pout said it all.

"Okay what did I do?" I asked hoping to make her happy as soon as possible. A unhappy Enju was not one I wanted to be near. She stopped walked and turned to face me.

"You nearly died." She said in a barely audible whisper. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she gazed at me. I felt horrible making her cry and decided I would do my best to make sure this never happened again.

"No you're not!" She said as tears began to fall from her face and hit the ground. I tried to put my word in but she cut me off again, "You're not sorry you almost died because we both know you were doing everything humanly possible. It's just there was no chance we were going to live unless a miracle happened. That miracle did happen and it still nearly cost you your life. The worst thing is we both know stuff like this will continue to happen! After you fainted you were barely even breathing and your skin had become so pale. Do you know what is was like for me seeing the only person that I cared about almost dead!?" By this point she was sobbing uncontrollably.

Her words had shook me. Everything she said was true. Fights with Gastrea would continue to happen and with my luck more than a few of those fights would put me near death. The worst part was that there was no guaranteed that I would survive them. The only thing I did know however was that no matter what I would do everything I could to protect her.

I rushed forward and embraced the sobbing girl in my arms as she continued to cry. I felt her arms snake around me and catch me in a bear hug like she was scared I was going to die if she let go.

"Enju we both know there will be moments like that again where I'm nearly dead. There will be moments where your close to death yourself. But I promise you I will do everything in my power to keep coming back. As long as I have you by my side I will keep coming back. I will never let anything happen to you while I'm still alive so please just stay with me." By this point a few tears had begun to leak from my eyes as well. After a while our tears had ended and we finally parted from our embrace.

"So those words you said kinda sounded like a marriage proposal." Enju said as a sly grin formed on her face. I could only chuckled at her. I simply didn't respond and resumed walking towards our home. After a few moments Enju caught up by my side and held her hand out. Obviously knowing what she wanted I obliged with ehr request and took her hand in mine. With that the rest of our walk home was spent in comfortable silence.


	6. Leaders

It was safe to say I was having an unusual day. Let's see where should I start? Well first of all I had woken up with a mysterious letter addressed to both me and Enju. The problem it presented was who it was sent by. The letter was from Seitenshi the ruler of the Tokyo Area. She had requested to meet both me and Enju today to discuss something of major importance. Knowing it would not be wise to decline we were currently making our way towards the location we were suppose to meet at. This is where the second problem presented itself. I was driving on a ridiculously fast motorcycle with Enju barely clinging to me somehow while she was trying to get directions for where we were to go.

"What do you mean you can't remember?" I heard her screech into the cellphone she had in her hands.

"Like I said I can't remember." Sumire's voice replied from the speaker. Just then she broke out in laughter indicating she had been joking the whole time. I swear the next time I ran into that woman we were going to have words. Because I knew neither Enju or I were enjoying her humor while on this moving death trap. It didn't help we were on a time limit either.

"I'm kidding now where are you guys so I can tell you where to go?" Enju told her the name of the street we were currently on and Sumire proceeded to give us directions. Nearly half an hour later we arrived after getting lost seven times and running into two dead ends.

"We are never asking for directions from that women again." I muttered under my breath as I got off our ride and helped Enju off.. Sure she was a brilliant scientist but she was just awful with directions.

"I totally agree." Enju said. We approached the front doors and opened and were greeted with the sight of a majestic lobby. We sadly didn't have time to marvel at the it as someone came over to us immediately.

"Please follow me we have been expecting you." The man said. Figuring this was one of Seitenshi's assistants or something we followed him towards an elevator. After an awkward silent elevator ride up countless floors we finally arrived in front of a set of fancy doors.

"Please wait here until I return." With that the man knocked on the door and entered the room quick enough for me not to be able to get a glance on the inside.

"So you ready?" I asked Enju.

"Ready as I will ever be." She said. I could literally see the nervousness in her eyes.

"Relax." I told her. "There is nothing to worry about. If anything goes wrong we will try to resolve the issue and if that fails we will fight our way out like always. This brought a smile on her face as she let out a few giggles.

"Thank you Rentaro." She said as she suddenly hugged me. "You always know what to say." Sadly the nice moment we were having was interrupted by a barrage of shouting coming from inside the room. Enju and I looked at each other in puzzlement wondering what was going on. Soon enough a man in a black suit with a green tie exited the room. You could practically feel the anger rolling off him in waves. Noticing the man wasn't alone he took a look at us. His was reaction was immediate as he gave a sneer and walked away.

"What was his problem?" Enju asked.

"I'm afraid Saitake is always like that" a new voice said. We turned around and was greeted with a women in a white dress. The dress had a blue trim and like her dress her hair was also right. On top of her head was a hat also white with a blue sash running across it and some white flowers on it.

"I cannot thank the both of you enough for coming here. Please follow me we have much to discuss" We followed her into the room and took a seat in a pair of comfy chairs. As the guy who brought us here originally exited the room and closed the door you could feel the tension in the room rise.

"Where to begin." The women said.

"At the beginning?" Enju joked. Whether she planned it or not it managed to lessen the tension in the room.

"I suppose that would be best. As you have probably guessed I am Seitenshi. The reason I have called you here today is because I want to hire you both as a protection detail."

"Don't you already have a personal mini army for that?" I asked. Why was she asking us to protect her when she had countless bodyguards? And from who did she want the protection from?

"I do but due to new circumstances I require a more skilled protection plan." She stated.

"And these circumstances would be?" I asked letting the question trail off.

"My life is being targeted." Well that certainly got my attention.

"Targeted?" I questioned

"Yes it is." Seitenshi replied in a sad tone. "Due to some of the laws I am trying to pass involving the Cursed Children it is being targeted. As you know that subject alone brings up much controversy. And since I am trying to give more rights to them it has caused many protests. The man you saw was Saitake Sogen the leader of the Osaka Area. Sadly he does not share the same ideals I do." Well that explains why he looked so pissed." I do not regret anything however. I know that while my life may be threatened it is my duty to make sure I get this done."

"I see." Due to her wanting to help others her life was being threatened. And here she was not caring what happened to her as long as her wish was granted. That fact alone was enough to both earn my respect and my services. I looked at Enju after she gave me a nod I gave our answer, "It would be our pleasure to protect you." For the first time since the conversation began a smile appeared on her face.

"Could you tell us more about this law?" Enju asked.

"I basically want to give Cursed Children a guaranteed protection in writing. I want them to be able to do normal things any girl their ages should be able to do. They should not be the subject of discrimination. This law would guaranteed that." She responded. I had to admit that her goal was a long shot. Many people would oppose this and some would even try to stop it. However, if Seitenshi succeeded the results would definitely be worth the effort.

"So a girl like me would be able to go to school without discrimination?" Enju asked. While Enju already did go to school she had to hide the fact of her being a Cursed Child which was very bothersome. I knew that if she no longer had to hide that fact a lot of pressure would be released from her shoulders.

"Yes exactly. They would be like you." Seitenshi responded. Both me and Enju stared in shock at her. "I might have researched the both of you a little." She said amused.

"Is there anything you know about either of us that I should be concerned about?" I questioned. Who knew what she had learned about the two of us.

"Well I did find a interesting fact every now and then. But one thing I found the most interesting would be your condition." At those words I visibly gulped.

"You know?" I asked.

"Indeed I do. And I promise you I will not treat you any different because of that condition. After all if I did treat you differently that would be hypocritical. And rest assured I have told no one of that condition. Although I will admit I am curious about it." She said with a laugh. I let out a breath I hadn't noticed I had been holding.

"I thank you for your consideration." I told her gratefully. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" I asked. There was a sale going on and I wanted to get to it before the store closed.

"I believe so and I once again thank you." She said as we stood up. Just as we were about to exit the room she call out once again, "Oh wait there was one thing I forgot to mention."

"What would that be?" I asked.

"The reason I selected you two specifically." She replied. I was wondering about why she did choose us earlier but I decided to just ignore it. "The reason that I chose the both of you is because like me you are being targeted."


End file.
